Salazar in Time
by Lord Voldemort Was Framed
Summary: In response to a challenge...Harry finds the next Horcrux, conveniently in the Chamber of Secrets. However he is inconveniently sent back in time to the days of the founders and found by Salazar Slytherin...who plans to send him back to the future.
1. The Horcrux and the Trap

_This is a challenge set bysomeone on fictionalley...if you want to readit then it's all here )_

_http/forums. had writer's block recently and have been trying all sorts...and this seems the most effective. I'll try to update when I can but I'm mostly busy at the moment with work, exams etc. Enjoy!_

**Salazarin Time**

**The Horcrux and the Trap**

Harry was the only one in Hogwarts that was able to retrieve this Horcrux, after Hermione had worked endlessly to help him work out all the possible places it might be located. He ventured down into the Chamber of Secrets alone, for he knew already of the terrible memories that still lurked in the darkness, both for him and for…Ginny, the other reason he wanted to be on his own. He could not help but remember her helpless little body as she lay there, as cold as the basilisk's scales. There had always been something that drew him towards the chamber and he wondered if it was that same thing that almost led him to being in Slytherin the first day he had entered Hogwarts. The school was almost isolated now, deemed unsafe by the authorities. _They don't know what they're doing, _Harry thought, _Hogwarts is safer than anywhere else… _But Dumbledore was gone.

Since that day, Harry had realised something that may seem obvious, but had not been. No one will live forever, not even Sirius or Dumbledore and not even him. He had survived so far but he had to be more careful now that Voldemort's power was gaining even more. The best thing about the realisation was of course that Voldemort too could die. Harry had thought that nobody could kill Dumbledore, but Snape had done it. He could kill Voldemort and Snape. He was drunk with his hatred for both of them and for what they had done…but still in the depths of his muddled thoughts, he could not forget the pensieve containing Snape's memory. He knew that it was no excuse for killing Dumbledore however. It was hardly as though Harry had led an easy life but he had never resorted to killing anyone yet. What troubled him was knowing that he would have to commit murder in order to escape it. He wished he hadn't heard the prophecy sometimes, just so he could live in hope of…he didn't know. Of course Voldemort and the death eaters would not see the error of their evil ways, but it was something that he could have hoped for.

He shut his eyes at first, wondering if he could still remember his way around, despite it having the same horribly slimy walls all around. It was not hard. He kept his hand in his pocket, clasping his wand at the very memory of the basilisk, enhanced by the bones that still carpeted the chamber's floor. He was caught up in a dream, glowing green like the dim lights of the ancient place, questioning whether there would be any traps or anything protecting the Horcrux. Perhaps the only protection it would have had was the basilisk as after all, Voldemort would not have counted on there being any parselmouths there to open the chamber after himself, let alone anyone that would be able to slay such a mighty beast. He remembered Tom Riddle's words those few years ago…that they had probably been the only two parselmouths at Hogwarts since Slytherin himself. Salazar Slytherin, the creator of this terrible and morbid place, buried deep beneath the school.

Now, where would the Horcrux be? Harry followed his instincts, which led him to where he had found Ginny. Perhaps she had been in that spot for a reason. The memory of her was painful now because all he wanted to do was be with her, to hold her close and for her to be safe in his arms. It was impossible. Being near to him was one of the most dangerous places she could be and he knew it. Despite anything she had said, that she would rather be with him and in danger than safe but without her, he could not be selfish when he knew what was best for her. He would rather that she found someone else to be with, if that was what would make her happy, than that she waited for him. He knew he was not invincible. He would do everything in his power to stop Voldemort, but if that was not enough then someone else must finish what had been started. Voldemort would die…eventually.

The stone statue towered over him, being as tall as the chamber itself, its gargoyle-like face staring down at him as he strained his neck to look it in the eyes. He searched it, desperate to find something that wasn't quite right, something that he hadn't noticed the last time he had been here. Or perhaps he was just trying to take his mind off the other thoughts that haunted him. He had been more concerned with Ginny last time to notice anything strange and had no knowledge of what a Horcrux was until his sixth year. Now that he looked closely, there was something a little odd about the statue, or rather near the statue. Between the large, grotesque feet by which Ginny had collapsed was a tile with a carving of a snake, barely visible beneath the slime and dirt that caked the entire floor.

Harry wiped the tile with his sleeve, covering it in slime. He was beyond being disgusted after all that he had seen since his first visit to the chamber as well as everything that followed it. If he could destroy Voldemort he was in fact quite willing to endure any amount of slime. He lifted the tile up to reveal a small grave to what looked like it had once been a marvellous cup, but was now covered in dust. _Hufflepuff's cup, _Harry thought, remembering the conversation with Dumbledore. How could he destroy it? As the accursed locket had been a fake, he had not needed to think about destroying it and neither did he know what tactics Dumbledore had in mind before he died. He could not force a basilisk fang into it as he had done with the diary. A cup is for drinking out of, but with the terrible image of the potion in the cave he would prefer not to drink out of something left by Voldemort. He would take it back up to Hogwarts to ask Hermione or Slughorn…someone that might know something. He got his wand out ready, just in case there were any Infiri or anything equally unpleasant lurking about and with his other hand he took hold of the cup. There was a churning in his stomach at first, not unlike the sensation that would occur if you were to use a Portkey. He should have known it wouldn't have been that easy, watching the room shift out of focus with a glowing green swirl blurring his vision until he was no longer in the chamber.

When Harry awoke he found himself in bed, in the hospital wing. It looked different and Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen. There was a nastily familiar seething pain in his arm that was merely bandaged. If he hadn't known better he would have said he had been bitten by the basilisk again but that was impossible – he had killed it over four years ago! He saw someone dressed a little like Madam Pomfrey but it was not her. Perhaps she required some help if there were a lot of people injured. He looked around and then noticed that his bed was the only one occupied.

"Excuse me?" he choked, "Erm…what happened? Where's Madam Pomfrey?" The witch gave him a funny look and shook her head, wondering who on earth Madam Pomfrey was.

"You must have lost your memory," she said, shrugging, "Well part of it anyway…perhaps temporarily. You were bitten by Salazar Slytherin's…pet. You were very lucky that it's still young and the venom isn't fatal yet." She said the word pet for lack of a better word to describe it.

"What? It's hundreds of years old…and I killed it four years ago too. That's not possible..." Was he dreaming? That could be so, or he could be going mad. Maybe everyone else was mad and convinced that the basilisk was still around. It had to just be a snake bite.

"I think you will find that you're mistaken," she replied, seemingly as confused as he was, "You were found by Professor Slytherin and he brought you here immediately so that I could treat the wound." She thought it best not to ask who he was or how he came to be in the castle. He seemed unbalanced, at least at the moment. Questions could wait until later. The door opened and the "brave rescuer" himself strolled in. He wore black and dark green robes, which showed off his height and figure. He had eyes like a snake's, cunning and searching, and a sinister smile that showed a lot of shiny white teeth, reminding Harry a little of that silly muggle song about a crocodile.

"Ah, he is awake," he said softly, as though he still did not want to disturb him, "Are you quite well, sir?" Even the way he pronounced the letter "s" sounded snakelike.

"Never been better," Harry replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Even if this was a dream, which it _had _to be, he did not particularly desire the company of the legendary Salazar Slytherin and that was this man's name if he had gathered his information correctly from the witch at his bedside.

"I certainly am very sorry about that bite. Excitable little snake, I'm afraid, probably just wanting to play. Left you alone as soon as I told it to, mind. You know, they don't know their own strength sometimes-"

"Little?" Harry cocked an eyebrow. Basilisks were huge creatures.

"Well, I don't like to boast," Salazar replied, "Although already the size of a king cobra, there's a lot of growing to do yet! It's just a young thing, as you know the venom hasn't even fully developed, luckily for you."

"Quite," said the witch, "Snakes are Professor Slytherin's passion. It's all he seems to do with his spare time!" Salazar made an extremely pathetic attempt to look modest and failed miserably. Harry's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, he doesn't seem too poorly," he said, trying to smile pleasantly at Harry, "Perhaps he should come to my office and we can have a drink." The witch frowned, clearly thinking that inviting a stranger to have a drink with you after he had been bitten by your young pet basilisk was somewhat inappropriate. However, Harry sensed that she did not dare question Slytherin as she motioned to him to get up. Reluctantly he did so and followed Salazar to his office, which he recognised as McGonagall's office.

"Isn't this…erm, Gryffindor's office?" Salazar laughed out loud.

"Of course not," he said as though this should be incredibly obvious to even a muggle. To be honest, Harry did notice that there were some rather large clues such as the numerous pictures of snakes, all slithering and swirling elegantly. For a moment he even thought that there was a certain beauty about them, before thinking back to Nagini or the basilisk.

"So," Salazar continued, "Have a drink." He poured what looked suspiciously like a potion, rather than a regular drink, into a goblet and placed it in front of Harry.

"What's that?"

"A potion," he answered, "Nothing harmful - the taste is quite pleasant in fact. It should help with the shock. Drink up." Harry didn't bother arguing that he didn't need it. Instead he took a quick look and without recognising it as anything dangerous, took a small sip. Nothing happened. Then Salazar began to question him.

"Now, what exactly was it that brought you to Hogwarts?"

"I'm in my seventh year at Hogwarts," Harry said, glad that he was able to have someone to explain things to, even if it was old Slimeball Slytherin, "I was in _your _Chamber of Secrets looking for a Horcrux."

"My dear boy," Salazar chuckled, "You are not a student at this school, I don't know how in Merlin's name you found that room and there is certainly no Horcrux there."

"Yeah, you might be interested in the Horcrux actually," Harry said fiercely, "As it belongs to your _heir!_" Salazar's eyes widened at the mention that he could possibly have an heir.

"Ah, the thing is," he told him, "I have no children."

"If only you never did," Harry spat.

"Hmm…the question is not where you are from, but when," Salazar muttered, "You wear a uniform boasting the crest of this school, but it is not the present uniform and you are not a current student. You speak of things that are at present quite impossible. Which year have you arrived from?"

"1997."

"Amazing!" Salazar cried out in glee, as though they should both be incredibly happy about the situation, "Not only that in your day it is possible to travel so far back in time – forgive me, I am used to time turners, which I'm sure are very old fashioned in your time – but that you have arrived here on this very day and that I have met you. You _must _tell me how you have done it."

"Look, it was an accident. I don't know how I got here – I just picked up the Horcrux and winded up…"

"Oh, then my heir is responsible? He must be a truly great wizard, or is it a witch? Do tell, are they cunning and ambitious?"

"Certainly," Harry said, grinding his teeth, "He's just _brilliant. _Full of cunning and ambition to murder innocent people." Salazar's excited expression vanished and a mask of darkness came over his face, as though he was disgusted at what he heard. This surprised Harry, after all he had heard about Slytherin.

"My…heir is a murderer?" he asked slowly, and Harry confirmed with a nod, "Why? What goes wrong?" He looked as though he were genuinely in pain and couldn't bear the thought of it. Harry actually didn't know what to say and was unable to offer any sort of answer. For a long while there was silence until Salazar spoke again.

"I don't think we should speak any more of future events, it is not good. However, neither is it good for you to remain here for that very reason. I may be able to find a way to transport you back to the future."

"I thought all you have are time turners," Harry said quietly. Salazar didn't answer but sat in silence, mulling over the problem, desperately trying to find a solution in the depths of his thoughts. There was no way Harry could trust him after only just realising he had given him Veritaserum in his drink, disguised by the sweet cherry flavour. Also the very fact that he was Salazar Slytherin was not particularly encouraging when Harry had heard everything of his reputation. If the Chamber of Secrets had already been built then it could not be long until the infamous argument with Godric Gryffindor would occur, if it had not done so already, and Salazar would leave the castle. When he had appeared to be concerned about Voldemort's killings, though he had been spared of the finer details, Harry had little doubt that he was only pretending to feel any regret. He had already made it plain that he wanted an heir possessing ambition and cunning, in other words, someone exactly like Voldemort. There was no denying that he had those qualities in high amounts…yet his expression of dark concern had looked so unbelievably real. Finally Salazar stood up, knocking the chair over in his hastiness.

"I have an idea!"


	2. The Mistake and the Cunning Plan

**The Mistake and the Cunning Plan**

Harrry stared at Salazar, intrigued at what the plan might be. Unfortunately he was not warned of what was going to happen next and it was a great shock when the founder of Hogwarts decided to send a blast of light from his wand to the Horcrux, which then shot back at both himself and Harry. Instinctively, Harry took hold of the cup as he felt that similar sensation of travelling. He only hoped that it was in fact time travel and not that Salazar had cast a random spell on them that was about to send them towards certain doom. He would have been a lot more confident that he knew where he was going if he was with Dumbledore…but Dumbledore wasn't even born yet. What an amazing thought that was, when he himself had seen the greatest wizard in the world die right in front of him. Even now, not knowing quite where he was going or what was happening to him, the only comforting thoughts were those that included Dumbledore. He was no longer afraid of dying but only of dying before his time. There were things to be done and that were his to do, claimed the day Voldemort marked him. However, Harry's reflections were interrupted by his body colliding with the floor of Professor McGonagall's office. When he examined the room, everything seemed to be as it should be. After the several visits to this office, Harry should indeed have known what it looked like. There was even a small tin of biscuits as usual. One large problem at this stage however could be identified – Salazar Slytherin was not supposed to be in 1997.

Realising his mistake, he tried to laugh it off but was soon distracted and repulsed at the Gryffindor colours painted on the walls of what he considered to be his office. He looked as though he expected a lion to jump out and roar at him, which caused Harry's mouth to form a slight smile for the first time in a while. "What's happened to my office?" he hissed, his green eyes flashing furiously. Harry couldn't help but snort with laughter at the comical performance before him. He had certainly not expected Salazar to be such an amusing man, whether the humour was intentional or not. Also, for some reason he had assumed that he would look almost exactly like Voldemort. He did indeed have some of the snakelike features that people associated with the Dark Lord and Harry did know that he was also a parselmouth. However, he looked like neither Voldemort nor Tom Riddle.

"Excuse me?" Harry recognised the woman's voice as McGonagall's. Both he and Salazar had ignored the tabby cat that had sat upon the desk and now took the form of Harry's transfiguration professor.

"Professor McGonagall-"

"Explain yourself, Potter," she demanded, squinting as though there was something about him that looked slightly different, "I would be very interested in knowing how you managed to get from Gryffindor common room to my office."

"I wasn't in Gryffindor common room," Harry replied, perplexed. He looked around for Salazar but he appeared to have vanished. He decided that was good, for it would only cause more confusion if he had to explain why one of the school founders was hanging around when he was supposed to have died centuries ago.

"Potter, I saw you enter the common room with Black, Lupin-" Harry's mouth dropped open as he suddenly realised what must have happened.

"What year is it?" She looked at him as though he was mad, and he didn't blame her. He was beginning to believe it himself.

"1977…Potter, is everything alright?" It was 1977…Dumbledore was alive.

"Sure, sure…can I speak to Professor Dumbledore please?" It was only then that he began to consider what he should do. Of course Dumbledore would probably be able to transport him back to the future before you could say lemon sherbet, but was that really what he wanted to do? Voldemort could be stopped. His parents could be saved. If he remained in 1977 he could bring justice without Voldemort even knowing of his existence. The only problem was that he already knew that Dumbledore would warn him not to attempt changing the future. Forming attachments of any sort with anyone in the past would be dangerous and he had already bumped into Salazar Slytherin and a younger McGonagall. It was a difficult decision to make. Maybe he could try to talk to Dumbledore about the future, even if he just gave the smallest hints of what might happen. He knew he would be unable to see Dumbledore for only a moment, knowing that when he got back home the headmaster would be dead. He couldn't just do nothing when he was so close to being able to make a difference. Perhaps this was the only way to win.

"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is away at present. He shall return in a couple of days. Now, will you kindly stop avoiding the question of why and how you arrived in my office?" Harry recognised that he had a choice of either telling the truth or pretending to be his father for a limited time. "Some sort of speeding spell," he replied, "Quite oddly I think it was Peter that managed it." He tried to look shocked, knowing all too well that Wormtail was the most unlikely and least capable of all the Marauders to have cast such a spell. He yawned deliberately, hoping that she would just send him back to the common room and then remembering that he would not be able to enter it. Strangely enough, he didn't think that the password needed to enter Gryffindor common room would be the same in 1977 as in 1997. However, he got his wish as she then decided to hurry him away. He wasn't sure quite how late it was or whether the time travel had somehow made him this tired. The whole experience seemed so surreal, knowing that he was within the same walls as his parents and that they were the same age as he was. Even the fact that they were there, regardless of their ages, was amazing. He flinched as he felt a cold hand pull him back, causing Salazar to chuckle.

"Why did you disappear?" "I didn't think it would be a good idea if that woman saw me. After all, I'm surely supposed to be dead by now…then again you're not even born yet. We should work on getting you back to where you came from. I suppose if the worst comes to the worst we'll be able to use a time turner…" Harry had never imagined Salazar as being so talkative but he did ramble on sometimes, usually when he was panicking.

"Look, I…erm, don't think I should go back just yet." It was so difficult to say, although he didn't know why. He considered that it might be the fact that he knew time travel was so dangerous when you attempted to alter past events. He pictured Hermione telling him this, missing her, Ron, Ginny and everyone else more than ever. He was unsure how long he had been missing – travelling very quickly through several centuries was very confusing.

"What? We need to get you back as soon as possible," Salazar insisted, "You can't go about changing the future-"

"Says who?" Harry spat, "You-you haven't been where I've been, you haven't seen what I've seen and you don't know what's coming!" Salazar was quietly fuming at the sight of this disobedient youth and yet he somehow admired the way he stood up to him, and no doubt anyone else.

"How curious," he hissed to himself, unaware at that moment that Harry was also a parselmouth.

"What's curious?" Salazar grinned. The boy was apparently a Gryffindor, at least according to his uniform, but a parselmouth as well. Was it possible that the two of them were related? Yet Harry had spoken of his rather wicked sounding heir, so clearly if there was a connection the boy didn't know about it.

"You are," he replied simply, still smiling at him. He couldn't help but want to know more about the boy now. Perhaps it was because he had never met another parselmouth before or because he had never seen anyone so passionate about anything…except Godric. He argued with Godric so much over, well, nothing. It was hard to tell who was the one who started it because neither of them argued so much with anyone else. Helga was too good natured to ever want to fight with anyone and Rowena was usually absorbed in study. Salazar didn't often have any need to speak with the other professors and Godric considered himself above them, not in a way in which he would be unpleasant to them but in which he would usually ignore them unless they firstly addressed him.

"If you tell me what is so terrible," Salazar said softly, "I will consider what we may be able to do here. But you must tell me absolutely everything you know about what is occurring now and what relevance it has to 1997." Harry was astounded by the sudden change of Salazar's mind – that was so Gryffindor. That might have been what made him feel so much more comfortable talking to him. He felt able to pour his heart out to the man that he had deeply despised in 1997, met several centuries ago and was now with in 1977. He didn't leave out a single detail. It would have been hard for anyone else to tell the story as fully as Harry did, but then it was his history and something he could never ever forget. He was sure that even one of Lockhart's memory charms would not let him forget the terrible years he had lived through. By the end of it he looked so worn out that Salazar felt obliged to offer him a hug but then thought better of it. Though it might have seemed like they had known each other for years during this discussion, they hadn't. He couldn't believe what he had heard of Lord Voldemort. He was sickened to know that he would one day be responsible for the life of such a wizard. It was true that muggles were not his favourite people in the world but he would never have tried to massacre them. From what he gathered from Harry it seemed that wizards and witches were no longer persecuted in the way that he knew. Muggle-born children were admired by their parents for their special powers…it all sounded so much better, or at least it would have done if Voldemort and the death eaters were wiped out of the equation. Harry's parents would die and they were here right now, with the boy who would effectively become their secret keeper and murderer. It was natural that Harry would not want to go back and leave things as they were, but was it right to change time? He also had to admit that he had no idea how to get back. He had already been clumsy, missing the destination by twenty years and even though he tried to suppress his emotions he had to admit that he had been touched by his story. Every little fact had been presently so delicately and with such care – the way in which his parents died, how he was made to feel by his muggle relatives…everything.

"I'll help you," Salazar told him, "I know how you feel." However, he was not quite so willing to explain his private thoughts and memories as Harry had been. He had no reason to discuss them and Harry had no need to know anything about his feelings. His tendencies to keep himself to himself had often proved difficult when forming relationships with anyone. He could not understand why he should be so open about his emotions or why he should tell anyone every insignificant event in his life, when it made absolutely no difference to the present. Of course there were always witches that were more than happy to have one night stands or even short term relationships with him, frowned upon by the muggles of course, but he could rarely maintain a good friendship with either a man or a woman and had never been able to have a serious romantic relationship. He was glad when Harry did not question him.

"But where should I start?" Harry asked, counting off the events chronologically, "My parents?"

"I thought you might think that, but I have a better idea," he said silkily, "The so-called Professor Snape."

"What?" Harry was outraged, "Why on earth would I even want to talk to him? He KILLED Dumbledore!"

"Exactly, but that is in the future. You are to make an attempt to prevent that event." It made perfect sense but Harry couldn't be sure that he could manage holding a conversation with him, knowing what he had – would – do. Then again, his father had been a bully at school but from what he had heard, he had managed to change. It was only fair to assume that Snape might, surely? It was just so hard.

"Sometimes you need to listen to your head, not your heart," Salazar warned him, "Think about how you can prevent the murder rather than punishing him for something that he has yet to do." Harry's insides squirmed as he remembered what must have been one of Dumbledore's favourite things to say to him – the greatest power of all was love. Salazar was right in that Harry did need to use his brain, but he needed his heart to forgive. He had been obsessed with revenge but the answer was not that, but love and forgiveness. Yeah right. He rolled his eyes.

"How do I go about this then?" he asked, unable to think of a way in which he might enter Slytherin common room without knowing the password. Then there was the problem of him being a Gryffindor from 1997.

"It appears to be the beginning of the year," Salazar commented, pointing at the large "Welcome back" banner, a true waste of parchment if there ever was one, "Which suggests that it is likely that students are not yet settled, and Dumbledore himself is going to be a couple of days late back!" Harry grinned, seeing where this was going.

"I'm sure that between us we can think of a suitable story."


End file.
